Those Castlewood residents who believe that a gate guard "would turn us into some kind of police state" are mounting strong opposition to that special police patrol, and there are even hints that the issue could be carried to the courts if the county goes ahead with the project.

Voted by a two-thirds majority of the Castlewood homeowners and sanctioned also by the country club's board of directors, the idea of a 24-hour gate guard threatens to erupt into a volatile issue in that serene residential neighborhood.

"It isn't even the cost of the guard or the question of whether that move would even be effective," explained John Fletcher, a Castlewood resident who opposes the move. "The whole idea of living and raising our children behind a policed fence is repugnant to many of us. We just don't like it."

The county board of supervisors set the machinery in motion that would allow those 100-plus homeowners to set up a special tax district to provide for police service. Originally estimated at $1, the added tax has now been projected at $1.75 per $100 of assessed valuation.

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Also paying the extra tab, presumably through their monthly dues, would be some 900 proprietary and social members who belong to the golf club. Instances of vandalism on the golf course, plus some reported burglaries of those homes, have apparently prompted much of the push for the gate guard.

Fletcher, however, challenges that reasoning. "There is no evidence that we have any more burglaries than the rate experienced by Pleasanton or other nearby communities," he said.

Some members contend that "the real reason is that some people want to develop a Pebble Beach atmosphere. The gate guard is just the first step." They argue that "Castlewood has traditionally been a neighborhood of families, and the club has also been sustained along those same lines."

Others who appeared with Fletcher at the county hearing in opposition to this plan were Wendell Scott, Alan Winslow and Ervin Whaley. The proponents were led by A.H. "Jack" Johnson and Edward Fleming. The latter is now president of Castlewood Property Owners Association.

Way Back Then

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At the Movies: Dublin Cinema. "Patton," winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor, George C. Scott.